Two studies were conducted, the first to determine reader response to newspaper front pages with modular format and color, and the second to examine source perception and reporter response to errors in news stories. Results of the first study revealed that respondents in three cities preferred modular front pages to other modern format pages and that they preferred pages with either spot color or four-color halftones to pages without color. The second study revealed that reporters disputed three-fourths of news source claims of error, but did admit that 20% of their stories contained mistakes. It showed also that sources felt there were more errors in longer stories, those with multiple sources, and those about local government, and that organizational constraints appeared to minimize error by reducing opportunities for reporters to write stories that are error-prone. (FL)